Manchin and Collins — meeting together with a crowd of reporters in the Senate basement — said that a bipartisan group of senators is discussing overhauling the Electoral Count Act, as well additional protections for election workers including beefing up penalties for threatening poll workers. Manchin added that the senators "just think it's such a needed thing to secure our elections" and wanted to ensure that election and poll worker intimidation would be "dealt with in the harshest penalties, we're not going to fool with our count." The decision by Manchin and Collins to drive their efforts back into the spotlight comes after Collins convened a bipartisan group of senators earlier this month to talk about potential election reforms. But those talks have largely flown under the radar as Democrats made a failed bid to bypass the 60-vote legislative filibuster in order to pass a sweeping election and voting rights bill. Among the changes under discussion are clarifying the vice president's role and changing the number of lawmakers who need to object before the House and Senate must vote on a challenge to a state's Electoral College slate.

Source: The Guardian January 21, 2022 05:47 UTC